Reconditioning of a floor usually requires polishing or sanding of the floor. Polishing of a floor is done to clean and shine a floor. It has been found that the floor polishers available are difficult to control and use by an inexperienced operator. Sanding is often required when installing, renovating or repairing hardwood floors. The sanding of a hardwood floor is preferably accomplished in two steps, each requiring the use of a separate piece of equipment. The first piece of equipment used is generally a drum sander. The drum sander essentially includes a cylindrical drum, around which a strip of abrasive material is secured. A motor rotates the drum along with the strip of abrasive material. The drum is moved around the hardwood floor surface and sands it smooth. Drum sanders are primarily used first because of their ability to quickly and efficiently sand large areas of hardwood floors. However, drum sanders tend to chatter and vibrate, leaving chatter marks and/or other imperfections showing on the floor. Thus, the quality of the surface finish is somewhat impaired. These disadvantages are generally due to the gap or slot in the drum where the abrasive material is inserted and secured. Another disadvantage is that the drum sander has found wide use in the rental industry for the do-it-yourselfer. The problem with a do-it-yourselfer is the person rarely has the experience to operate the difficult to use drum sander and thereby actually does more harm than good when sanding floors.
After drum sanding is complete, a belt-type sander can be used to provide the desired surface finish. Belt-type sanders essentially include a sanding drum and a tension roller adjacent the drum. An endless belt of abrasive material is arranged around the drum and tension roller. The drum is then driven by a motor causing the belt to rotate and abrade the hardwood surface. This continuous sanding belt allows belt-type sanders to typically produce a higher quality surface finish than drum-type sanders. However, belt sanders are considerably more expensive to operate than drum sanders due to the expensive and rapidly consumed endless belts utilized. As a result, belt sanders are more efficient for the final or finish sanding of the floor, after the drum sander has been used. But, this means the do-it-yourselfer must rent two machines for sanding a floor. Thus, there is a need for a single device for floor conditioning which allows ease of use for the do-it-yourselfer and reduces the number of machines needed to condition a floor.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for conditioning floors which is easier to operate for the do-it-yourselfer, who rents such a machine, but lacks the operating experience of such devices.
The present invention is a floor conditioning system for conditioning floors. The floor conditioning system includes at least one orbital head assembly which provides a random rotating orbital action onto the floor during conditioning of the floor; a motor to drive the at least one orbital head assembly; a housing to secure the at least one orbital head assembly and the motor in place; and a handle attached to the housing to control the floor conditioning system. The one orbital head assembly includes an orbital head having a top and bottom, the top adapted to be connected to the motor; a conditioning head attachment shaft extending outward from the bottom of the orbital head and offset from a center of the orbital head, the conditioning head shaft rotatable in relation to orbital head; and a conditioning head having a top adapted to attach to the conditioning head attachment shaft and a bottom for attaching a pad for conditioning the floor. The floor conditioning system provides a device is easier to use as compared to currently available sanding and other floor conditioning devices. This is because the device of the present invention provides a method of conditioning a floor by applying a random rotating orbital conditioning action onto the floor that is easier to control by the operator. Also, the floor conditioning system includes a conditioning head which includes a bottom surface that is flexible and concave. The concave bottom surface improves conditioning time and efficiency of a floor conditioning device.